


The Right Man for the Job

by MystMelody



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Blow Jobs, Caught in the Act, Feelings, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Getting Together, Head Auror Harry Potter, Implied Anal Sex, Implied Switching, Interviews, M/M, Minister for Magic Hermione Granger, Office Blow Jobs, Porn With Plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-18
Updated: 2019-08-18
Packaged: 2020-09-06 17:33:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,746
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20295322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MystMelody/pseuds/MystMelody
Summary: Harry’s previous secretary resigned months ago, and Hermione is insisting that he finally hires someone new.Harry decides to trust his instincts when it comes time to interview the pre-selected candidates, leading to some mixed results. However, he completely regrets his decision to not even read their résumés when none other than Draco Malfoy turns out to be one of his scheduled interviewees.The interview takes an unexpected turn, and Harry is left with more than just a decision about who to hire at the end of the day... that is assuming that he can convince an irate Hermione to let him keep his job.





	The Right Man for the Job

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own these characters and do not make any financial gain from this work.

“Here you go.”

Harry looked up and groaned. Dean was grinning down at him, the pile of résumés he’d just deposited on Harry’s desk feeling more to him like an unstable potion than anything to smile about.

“Come on, it’s not that bad, Harry. There are some decent candidates in there.”

“Why can’t you be just be my secretary?” Harry asked, knowing that he sounded like a whining child but choosing not to care. 

“Because,” Dean began in a patronisingly soothing tone, “I think the Minister might be disappointed were she to lose me to her Head Auror.” Dean had the cheek to pat him on the head at this point, and Harry had to bat him away.

“Well, tell Hermione that she can take one of these so called great candidates, and I’ll have you.”

Dean sighed dramatically and flopped into the chair across from Harry. “Seriously, mate. You know I’d love to help you out, but working for Hermione’s good for me. I’ve gone through all the candidates and I think those are the best for you. Interviews are set up for tomorrow.”

Harry nodded. “Thanks, Dean. You didn’t have to do that.” 

The resounding laugh in answer stung, but was probably deserved. “Harry, please. If it’d been left to you, you’d have always been too busy to read anything properly and either never picked someone, or picked at random. Who knows how that would’ve gone.”

Harry just folded his arms. He had to quietly admit that Dean had a point. The paperwork and whole Human Resources side to his job was definitely not his favourite. He’d got into this line of work to try and catch dark wizards, not to decide if three years of working for the Wizengamot was more useful in a secretary than four years in Gringotts’ foreign exchange team.

“See, you know I’m right,” Dean concluded happily after a moment. “Now, just promise me that you’ll go into all of the interviews with an open mind? You know I wouldn’t have set them up if I didn’t think they were each going to be genuinely good for you.”

“Sure,” Harry replied, frowning slightly at Dean’s comment. Why wouldn’t he be open minded to the candidates? “Thanks, Dean. I’ll let you know how I get on.”

“Good luck, mate. There’s only three you’re interviewing. If you really don’t like any of them then let me know. But I think you’ll be alright.”

Harry watched Dean leave his office. He didn’t bother looking at the résumés that he’d left behind. He could see the three which had been charmed to glow green, sitting amongst the others which now had a faint red hue. Harry would wait for tomorrow and see who turned up, preferring to go with his gut instinct when he met them.

Satisfied, he turned back to his latest case file, and put all thoughts of hiring a secretary to the side.

***

“Morning, Harry.”

Harry looked up from his desk when he heard Hermione’s voice issuing from his doorway.

“Hey,” he replied with a grin, “Are you here checking up on me?”

She tutted and came into the room, settling herself in the chair opposite him and crossing her legs primly. “Not checking up as such,” she said, “but I did think I better see how you were doing before your interviews today. I know it’s not your favourite thing to do.”

“No, it’s not,” Harry agreed. “It would be much easier if I could just take Dean.”

“And I’ve told you before, Dean is brilliant and completely and utterly off limits to you. Besides, you know as well as I do that he’ll be moving soon enough. I’m actually going to recommend him for a managerial position in Human Resources. After everything he’s just done for you, I’d say he’s more than qualified.”

Unfortunately Harry had to agree. He just wished that this whole thing would sort itself out without any input from him.

“I know today will be tough for you,” Hermione said consolingly, “but just keep in mind that you need to get someone new here. It’s been months now since Maja resigned, and you can’t keep trying to do everything yourself.”

Harry sighed. They’d had this conversation several times already, and he couldn’t be bothered playing it out all over again. He’d liked Maja, had come to trust her completely, and it was hard to try and replace that.

“I’ll let you know how I go,” he responded eventually.

“Good,” Hermione said, relieved. “Now, you’re feeling confident on what you’ll ask? You don’t want any last minute advice on interviewing techniques?”

“No!” Harry answered, a bit too quickly. “I mean, no, thanks, I’m okay. I have a plan.”

Hermione raised an eyebrow in his direction. “You have a plan,” she stated incredulously. “Now that just makes me suspicious Harry, because I have never known you to have a plan. Usually I have a plan, and you make it a point to ignore it.”

“Hey! That’s not true,” Harry shot back. Well. Not entirely true. 

“Look, I better get going,” Hermione said. “I have a firecall scheduled with the French Minister in an hour and I really better prepare. I expect to hear all about your proposed new employee by the end of the day though, Harry!”

“You will,” he promised, knowing full well that he’d never hear the end of it if she didn’t have all the details the moment he knew. 

She waved to him cheerily as she headed out the door, not doing anything to alleviate the dread that Harry felt about what lay ahead of him. He had ten minutes now until the first interview, and he was going to use that time to make himself a good cup of tea. At least that way if the interview was a disaster, he’d still have something to enjoy. 

***

This guy was a complete knobhead. Harry had spent the last ten minutes deciding what one word would best describe the man’s personality, and he’d eventually landed on that. Nothing else seemed to fit. Harry understood the general idea of interviews was to sell yourself to your employer, but this man seemed to be trying to apply for an Order of Merlin.

“And then I told the Brazilian Ambassador in no uncertain terms that there was really no need to make such a fuss about one little escaped dragon! I mean honestly. How fortunate that I’m fluent in Portuguese, wouldn’t you say?”

Harry startled when he realised that he was expected to say something at this point. “Uh, yeah, mmm. That’s great.”

The man - Dave, Harry recalled - chuckled slightly, before starting off enthusiastically on another rant. Harry couldn’t entirely remember what his last question had been, but it hardly seemed to matter, because Dave clearly had a lot to say regardless of anything Harry might add.

“You see, I know a lot about dragons,” Dave continued, “and yes I know that a Welsh Green shouldn’t technically have ended up in Brazil, but it’s just one of those things isn’t it? So yes, happy to have avoided any incident over that one, and I’m sure you can see how valuable those diplomatic skills are. I’ve never been one to back down, and I certainly could manage anything that you have to throw at me.”

Harry wondered for a moment if his initial assessment had been fair. One word wasn’t enough to sum up everything that was wrong with Dave. Just how stuck up could one man be? He was somehow a more extreme version of Percy Weasley, and that was something that Harry had hoped to never come across, even if he must admit that he had started to get along quite well with Percy as they’d grown older.

“While I don’t know if you would have asked your previous secretary to do anything of the sort, I can assure you that I am particularly skilled in financial matters as well. You see I was recently offered a post at Gringotts - which I’m sure you can imagine would have been exceedingly lucrative for me personally - but I didn’t feel that it would give me enough opportunities for progression. So, naturally, if you need someone to assist with accounts in this department, then, of course, I’m your guy.”

But surely he knew that they had an accounts department? Harry wondered, and not for the first time, if Dave even knew for which role he was interviewing. Dave seemed to think that he should be proclaimed King, a new position of magical royalty created just for him.

“Right!” Harry finally interjected, cutting Dave off in the middle of another rant about his excellent abilities in broomstick making. “Thank you, Dave. I appreciate how... forthright you’ve been today. I’m sorry, but we’ve about run out of time as I do have other appointments waiting. But thank you for coming in.”

“Oh,” Dave said, looking a little thrown off for the first time since he walked in the room. He quickly threw it off though and stood up with a smile on his face. “Well, thank you very much, Mr. Potter. It’s been delightful to meet you, and I look forward to hearing from you soon.”

“Yes, um, lovely to meet you too. I’ll be in touch.” Harry offered his hand and Dave grasped it firmly as they exchanged a quick handshake.

“Any idea when that might be?”

Harry started to wonder if he’d ever get Dave out of his office. This was only the first interview, and if the other two were like this then Harry wouldn’t be surprised if his head had exploded by the end of the day.

“Probably next week,” Harry invented, hoping that it wouldn’t land him in trouble. 

“Excellent! I’ll talk to you then.”

At last, after what felt like an eternity, Dave turned around and walked out of Harry’s office. Harry slumped back into his chair, letting out a loud groan and rubbing at his temples. Had Dean really thought that Dave would be a good candidate, or was this just some perverse revenge for some unknown crime Harry had committed against him?

Almost on cue, a knock sounded on the door that Harry just knew would be Dean. Sure enough, the door swung open to reveal his tentative smile aimed in Harry’s direction.

“So, what did you think?” Dean asked hurriedly. “Sorry, I know he was your first interview, but I just happened to see him leaving and thought I’d be cheeky.”

“You seriously want to know what I think?”

“Yes,” Dean replied.

“I think you’re a bloody sadist, is what I think,” Harry said. “What the hell were you thinking with that guy? He’s insane! Arrogant, rude, conceited... knobhead is what I thought best described him, even though I’m not certain it completely portrays just how awful he is!”

Dean looked quite taken aback. “Really? I don’t think he’s that bad, Harry. And he does have a lot of relevant experience. Did you know they even wanted him at Gringotts? You could do worse than him, mate.”

Harry sighed and ran his hand through his hair. “It’s not just a matter of what they can do technically though, is it? I need to find a way to make sure that they’re someone I can trust and rely on. I could never have got to that stage with him. He just... wasn’t the right fit for me. I know, maybe he would have been good at getting stuff done, but... I couldn’t have worked with him.”

A laugh rang out threw Harry’s office as Dean stood there shaking his head. “You know, Harry, only you would have that as your deciding factor in hiring someone. It’s fine if they’re useless, as long as we can have a good yarn! Good luck, mate, two to go!”

“Yeah, thanks,” Harry said, watching as Dean left his office, still chortling. 

***

“You were a nanny?” Harry asked, surprised. His current interviewee, Aoife, was slightly intimidating to him, but he must admit that she interested him much more than the unlikeable Dave. 

“Yes,” she said happily. “I know it might seem like an unorthodox career move, but it was something that I had always wanted to do, and having trained as a teacher at a Muggle University, it was an easy transition.”

“Of course,” Harry said. “I have to ask, and I hope this isn’t rude, but what made you choose to train at a Muggle University? Birmingham, you said?”

“It was, yes,” she said with a small chuckle. “Growing up I’d always thought that I’d go back to Ireland to study, but Professor Longbottom had connections that could get me into Birmingham University without the usual problems that wizards and witches face, so I couldn’t turn that down.”

“Understandable. But you didn’t want to do higher education in the wizarding world?” Harry asked.

“Honestly, no,” she replied with a shrug, “look, perhaps this isn’t something that I should say, but I’m not going to pretend to be someone else. I didn’t find a lot of the options for graduating Hogwarts students all that interesting. I didn’t know what to do, but I knew that I wanted to study more, and so I ended up studying education at Birmingham. And from there, I’ve done a few weird and wonderful things since.”

Harry couldn’t help but laugh. She was certainly refreshing, and Harry appreciated her honesty. “So, tell me more about being a nanny? What was it like?”

It was Aoife’s turn to laugh now. “People always ask me that! But you know, it’s not all that different to any other job. I learned a lot. I’d never had to be so well organised before in my life than when I was trying to coordinate the schedules of a busy family. And yet, I don’t think anything could be quite as rewarding as it either. So, challenging, fascinating, full on and fun, plus a million things in between. That’s how I’d describe it.”

“Nicely answered,” Harry admitted. “I’ve never had kids myself, but my godchildren can be a serious handful at times! They’re wonderful though, and I wish I had more time with them.” 

“Well, I’d like to think that once you have a secretary on board, you’ll hopefully have some more time available to you to spend as you wish,” Aoife said.

Harry smiled, and thought to himself that this time Dean had done fairly well. She’d become more friendly as they’d talked, and he was starting to see a future in which they could work well together.

The rest of the interview passed without great incident, and after an hour, Harry found himself waving Aoife off with a much more positive feeling than he’d had at the end of Dave’s interview. 

***

“Let me guess. You happened to see my latest interviewee leaving?”

“Well, yes, I was passing,” Hermione said, making herself comfortable in the seat opposite him. “And well, yes, Dean did mention that you were a little unhappy after your last interview, so I thought I better run interference so you didn’t bite my poor secretary’s head off this time.”

“I didn’t bite his head off,” Harry insisted, “I just pointed out that he chose a complete nutcase for me to interview.”

“He was very clear that you’d used the word ‘knobhead’ when he related the story to me. You know you shouldn’t use that language in a professional environment, Harry,” she scolded. 

“I know,” he sighed, “but you wouldn’t have liked this guy either, Hermione. He was so full of himself. But don’t worry, I did like the woman that I just interviewed. You can go and tell Dean that so he doesn’t worry about me attacking him or something.”

“I will,” Hermione said. “I don’t know what weird way you have of interviewing these people, Harry, but Dean assured me that you had it all under control. I hope he’s not lying!”

“It’s not weird,” Harry groaned, “I just want to make sure that I could get along with them. That’s all. Dean seems to think that as long as they can do the job, it doesn’t matter if they’re a git, but I disagree.”

Hermione sighed, but put up her hands in surrender as she made to stand up. “Fine, I’ll stay out of it. I’ll come and see you after your last interview. When are they getting here?”

Harry checked his watch. “Ten minutes. No idea who they are, but at least they can’t be worse than Dave, right?”

***

He couldn’t have been more wrong. The universe was obviously out to get him. Or at least Dean was out to get him. That could be the only explanation as to why Harry now found himself staring gobsmacked at none other than Draco Malfoy.

“Erm, Potter? I’m here for my interview for the secretary position,” Malfoy said, and Harry suspected that it wasn’t the first time that he’d told him this.

Harry forced himself to nod finally, and gestured to the chair opposite his desk. Shit. This wasn’t good. He wasn’t at all prepared for this interview. Not in the least because he actually had no idea what Malfoy had been up to since high school, and he knew that Malfoy would pick up on the fact that Harry had been too lazy to read his résumé before the interview. 

“So... you want to be my secretary?” Harry asked incredulously once they were both seated.

“Yes,” Malfoy replied firmly. “And look, perhaps it would be best to acknowledge that there is a little bit of history between us first before we get started.”

“A little... a little bit of history?” Harry asked bewilderedly. 

“Yes,” Malfoy said again. “Fine,” he sighed, noting Harry’s raised eyebrows, “perhaps more than a little. But, I’d appreciate if we could put that behind us. For what it’s worth, I am sorry for what I did to you in school, and you know... after.”

Right, so that was how he wanted to play it, Harry thought. He had to admit that Malfoy seemed to have changed somewhat, certainly in terms of appearance. His hair had grown slightly, giving him a more relaxed look than he’d ever had at school. His clothing too was different; he had chosen to incorporate some Muggle fashion elements into his outfit, the dark wizarding robes falling over an elegant suit. Harry had to admit that he looked good. 

“So... do you, erm, accept my apology?” Malfoy asked finally, startling Harry who realised he’d been silent for an uncomfortably long time.

“Yes,” Harry said, almost out of reflex, making himself look directly at Malfoy. “Sure. Um, it’s fine.” Harry sat there awkwardly for another moment, playing with the hem of his sleeve. 

“Excellent,” Malfoy said, smiling more broadly than he had at any point since he’d arrived. “Thank you, Potter. That’s- that’s great.”

“No problem,” Harry said.

“So...” Malfoy prompted.

“Huh?”

“Well, what would you like to ask me then? You know, in terms of my qualifications for being your secretary?”

“Right! Yes! The interview,” Harry said, trying to shake himself back to reality. “Um, so why do you want to work for me?”

“An excellent question, Potter, and I can understand why it might seem a little unusual that I’d apply for the role given our previous history. Honestly, I think I could do this job well, and I’d like the challenge. There’s a large variety of work, and it would be nice to be based back in Britain.”

Harry nodded. He was still half expecting Malfoy to announce that this was all some elaborate prank and embarrass Harry in some way, but if that were the case, then he was playing the part very convincingly. 

“So where have you been living then?”

Malfoy shot him a slightly surprised look, before covering it with a small cough and saying, “well, my last job was in Finland, as I’m sure you know. I was working for their Ministry at Helsinki Airport, trying to intercept any witches or wizards flying into the country who may have brought contraband items with them.”

Harry was surprised to hear that Malfoy had been working in such a Muggle domain. Draco Malfoy at an airport? If Harry had been asked before today, he’d have sworn that Malfoy didn’t even know what an airport was, let alone that he’d have spent any time in one.

“And, er, what did that entail?”

“Well, it was a lot of different things, but an important part of the role was checking passenger manifests. You know, the list of who is on an aeroplane? And if there were any known wizarding families there, I could inspect their bags myself as they arrived, ensuring that a Muggle didn’t come across anything that they shouldn’t.”

“I didn’t even know anyone did that,” Harry admitted, realising that with this admission he risked sounding rather stupid.

“Well, if I do the job well, then no one should know. The point was to handle any incidents quickly and calmly without causing a scene and running the risk of breaking the Statute.”

“So what made you decide to leave Finland then? Get too cold for you?”

Malfoy huffed. “Hardly. It’s a lovely place, Potter, and I won’t hear you disparage it. No, in the end, quite honestly, I had a bit of a falling out with the Minister. Erm, a personal matter, shall we say, but it made it rather difficult for me to remain his employee.”

That certainly had Harry intrigued. “Well, come on, what did you do?”

Again, Malfoy huffed at him before answering. “If you must know, I had a brief relationship with the man’s son, and it didn’t end well. He got a little clingy, and I said some unkind things to help break it off... but needless to say that the Minister didn’t appreciate his darling little boy being spoken to in that way. So, it seemed a good opportunity for me to come home.”

Malfoy lay back in his chair, seemingly completely at ease with what he had just revealed. Harry was gobsmacked. He hadn’t even known that Malfoy was gay, let alone that he’d been swanning around Nordic countries breaking the hearts of politician’s sons. That was certainly interesting.

“So, um, right, yes, okay, Finland,” Harry mumbled meaninglessly. “Why come home now, though? If you’ve been there all this time?”

“Well, I haven’t only been based there. Potter, you have read my résumé, haven’t you?”

“Um,” Harry started, feeling his face turn red.

“You haven’t! I knew something seemed a little off about your reaction when I arrived. I thought you just didn’t believe that I’d turn up! But you don’t know anything about what I’ve been up to since school, do you?”

“Well I know now that you’ve been shagging your way across Northern Europe!”

Malfoy just looked at him for a moment. “I beg your pardon?”

“I- I’m sorry, that was out of line. I didn’t mean- never mind.” 

Silence fell between them, and Harry wished that the floor could swallow him up. Perhaps he could invent an emergency that would require the Head Auror to rush away. Was it too much to ask for a Dark Wizard to start firing off curses downtown to save him from his embarrassment? 

Eventually it was Malfoy who spoke again. “Look, Potter, I can guarantee that I have done plenty over the last few years that would qualify me for this role. But if there’s no chance of you hiring me, then is there any point in us continuing?”

“Yes!” Harry answered, far too quickly. “I mean, you should stay. I shouldn’t have- I know I was wrong- but let’s at least talk some more.”

It seemed to take an age for Malfoy to relax a fraction and nod curtly in agreement. “Okay. Well, I think the last thing you wanted to know was what brought me back home now? If I’m honest - my mother. She’s not very well and I would like to be a little closer to her.”

“I’m sorry,” Harry said truthfully, “I didn’t realise that she... I mean, I didn’t know that she was sick.”

Malfoy shrugged. “I wouldn’t expect you to. She doesn’t get out much, not since father was locked away.”

Harry swallowed uncomfortably, but to his surprise, Malfoy was smiling.

“It’s okay, Potter. I’m quite aware that he deserves to be in Azkaban, I’m not arguing otherwise. But it would be a lie to say that it hasn’t taken a toll on my mother.”

“Of course. Well, I can understand why you’d want to be here then. So, um, what were you doing before your job in Finland? Have you done secretary work before?”

Malfoy seemed to struggle to avoid rolling his eyes, but composed himself before answering. “Yes,” he said, “prior to moving to Finland I had been working as the secretary for the head of the spell damage ward at Central Hospital in Belize City. Not the largest hospital in Central America, but we certainly had enough work to keep us all busy.”

“I’m sure. The Auror department is a bit different to a hospital though. More... criminals, I guess. There’s a lot of demands on us, and your role supporting me wouldn’t be a straightforward one. Most of all, you’d have to actually listen to me and be someone that I can trust.”

“It wouldn’t be a problem, Potter. Look, if you can’t put our history behind you then that’s fine...”

“I can!” Harry interjected, earning himself a frustrated glare from Malfoy.

“Really, Potter? Because as much as you’re trying to be the serious interviewer here, you’ve managed to accuse me of being a slag, and insisted on knowing the personal reasons of why I want to be in Britain! Is there any way that I could get you to trust me?”

“I never said you were a slag,” Harry mumbled.

“No, but you implied it. And I’m not for the record, not that it’s any of your bloody business.”

Harry was remembering exactly why he hated Malfoy now. He’d always been such a git, and as much as he might look completely different now, it didn’t seem like the boy who Harry had once known had disappeared completely. 

“I don’t care who you do or do not sleep with,” Harry hissed, wondering how on earth they’d got onto this topic. This was not the direction he’d meant for this interview to go in. “You’re the one who mentioned that... issue with the Finnish Minister’s son!”

“Yes, I said I’d been in a relationship with him, not that I’d been sleeping with everyone in Finland! Does it bother you that I didn’t settle down with a nice woman straight out of Hogwarts and produce several gorgeous children?”

All pretence of being professional now forgotten, Harry threw his hands up in exasperation. “Why would that bother me?”

Malfoy laughed, the sound ringing out around Harry’s office. “No reason at all, Potter. Look, I’ve changed since school, but perhaps you haven’t. I’m really a rather boring grown man now, but yes, I have had relationships with men throughout the last few years, and if that bothers you then there’s no point in us continuing with this.”

He made to get up, but Harry waved at him to sit down. “It doesn’t bother me, Malfoy,” Harry sighed. “How could it? I’ve done that too. I mean you’re not the only one who you know...”

“Is gay?” Malfoy suggested, a disbelieving look on his face.

“Yes,” Harry admitted. “It’s hardly a secret. Didn’t have much chance of that with the bloody Prophet following me around.” He shook his head and sighed, clenching and releasing his fists as he remembered that particular story breaking. 

“Ah,” Malfoy said, “I take it I may have missed the odd bit of news from our shores while I’ve been overseas?”

Harry chuckled gently. “What, they didn’t report on my scandalous exploits in the local Belize papers?”

“Apparently not. I must admit that I didn’t miss being followed and harassed while I was away. No one outside of this country has ever thought I was brewing an illegal potion when I made myself a cup of tea.”

Harry frowned. “You mean that’s happened here?”

His question was met with an incredulous look. “You can’t seriously be asking me that, Potter? Me, the villain of the war, left free to roam the streets? Oh yes, people are generally delighted to see me and beg me to sit down for a drink with them. Right.” Malfoy crossed his arms, and this time didn’t hold back from rolling his eyes at Harry.

“Point accepted. You shouldn’t have to deal with that though, you know. It’s not... it’s not right. You don’t deserve that.” 

“Thank you, Potter,” Malfoy said, looking a little taken aback. “I’m sorry that you get, you know... hounded by the media.”

Harry shrugged, relaxing more now than he had since Malfoy had arrived. “Thanks. I know it could be worse, but I just hate the intrusion into my life. Bloody hard to do anything without someone turning up and trying to photograph me. They had a whole article exposing my indecision when it came to brands of bread, and what that said about me.”

That had Malfoy laughing, and Harry was surprised to find how happy he was to get that reaction from the other man. “Well, Potter, to be honest, how did you not know what you were going to get before going into the store?”

Harry’s eyes widened and he stuttered slightly in protest. “Excuse me,” he finally forced out, “but like any normal person, I know I want to buy bread, but I might still look at the selection of bread on offer when I get there! You’d have loved that story wouldn’t you? Had a right old laugh at idiot Harry buying his groceries.”

“I don’t think you’re an idiot, Harry,” Malfoy said gently, and the use of Harry’s first name had him snapping his eyes up to meet Malfoy’s head on. “I wouldn’t have come here if I thought you were. You’re the youngest Head Auror the Ministry has ever seen. I know some of what you accomplished as a field Auror, and I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t impressed. So no, I don’t think you’re an idiot.”

Harry didn’t know what to say to that. He quickly pinched himself under the desk to make sure that he hadn’t somehow fallen asleep and started experiencing an odd dream. 

“You definitely used to think I was an idiot,” Harry replied at last, “or at least you said I was often enough.”

Malfoy had the good graces to look ashamed. “True. And like I said before, I am sorry. Really. I know it won’t make up for anything... but I have changed from the awful person that you remember. Mostly. I won’t claim I’m perfect, but I’m trying to be better.”

Harry smiled, realising that despite his earlier thoughts about Malfoy still being a git, he did believe what he was saying. Perhaps he was still a git, just a more refined one.

“It does,” Harry said, after a moment.

“What does?” Malfoy asked, looking at him in confusion.

“It does make up for it. I mean, not entirely, obviously. But it helps.”

Malfoy swallowed audibly and bit nervously at his bottom lip. Harry was alarmed to see that his eyes appeared to be filling with tears, so he hastily looked away. Thankfully when Malfoy spoke, there was no waver to his voice.

“Thank you, Potter. I do appreciate that, probably more than you realise.”

Harry nodded, although he wasn’t quite sure that he did fully understand Malfoy. He remained as much of a puzzle as he had been at school, just now Harry was feeling more and more as though he were a puzzle that Harry wanted to solve.

“I should probably go,” Malfoy said. “Thanks for meeting with me, Potter. It was more than I expected, really. I know this hasn’t exactly gone brilliantly, but I’m glad you heard me out.”

“No, no, it was no trouble,” Harry babbled, standing up himself, and starting to make his way round to where Malfoy was sitting. He had the strangest urge to try and make Malfoy stay, although he couldn’t entirely explain why he wanted that when he knew that he wasn’t going to hire him.

“Well, I guess this is it then, Potter. Probably the strangest job interview I’ve ever had, if I’m honest.”

Harry laughed quietly. “I’m sorry about that. Look, Malfoy, you do have some great experience-”

“It’s okay,” Malfoy interrupted, “you don’t need to say it, Potter. I’m sure you’ve got someone else you’d rather employ. Like I said, thanks for your time, anyway.”

Malfoy held out his hand, and Harry grasped it, feeling his palm start to sweat as they exchanged a brief shake of hands.

“Thanks for coming in,” Harry said at last, releasing Malfoy’s hand and stuffing his hands awkwardly into his pockets for lack of anything better to do with them.

“It’s been good to see you, Potter. Really,” he added when Harry snorted. “Not the type of rejection I’m used to getting from an attractive man, but hey, like they say, the right one is out there someone. The right job, I mean.”

Harry felt his heart racing. Had Malfoy just called him attractive? He found himself oddly flushed with the compliment, but unsure exactly what to do now. In truth, it was strange that Malfoy could have this effect on him after a decade without having laid eyes on him. But Harry would be lying if he said that he didn’t find Malfoy attractive now.

“I should go,” Malfoy said. “I’ll let you get back to saving the country.” With that he turned around and made his way toward the door.

“Wait,” Harry said impulsively. When Malfoy turned back around to look at him, Harry suddenly realised that he had no idea what he’d been intending to follow that up with.

“Yes, Potter? Was there something else?”

“It’s just - it’s actually... what it is, is that I was wondering...”

“Yes?”

“Never mind,” Harry sighed, running his hand distractedly through his hair. Instead of leaving though, Malfoy stepped back towards Harry, with a curious look on his face.

“What is it, Potter? I thought we established that you don’t want me for the role.”

“I don’t. Sorry, I just don’t think I could work with you.”

Malfoy was now standing far too close to him, his eyes piercing into Harry as though trying to read his mind. Harry suddenly wondered if Malfoy knew legilimency, and cursed himself for not having read the man’s résumé when he’d had the chance. 

“You fascinate me, you know, Potter,” Malfoy said, his eyes searching Harry’s face.

“I do?”

“You do. The Saviour of our world, devoting your life to ridding the world of dark forces. And yet, you aren’t brave enough to say whatever it is that you want to say to me.”

Harry gulped. Malfoy had a point, but he didn’t want to admit it. “I’ve never tried to say I was brave,” he said instead, “other people have done that for me. But I’ve never claimed to be that myself.”

Malfoy laughed, a gentle, breathy huff that Harry felt ghost across his face. “True, Potter. But I do think that you’re a braver man than even they give you credit for. You just need to trust your instincts the same way that you do when you’re investigating a case as an Auror.”

“How do you know I do that?”

“Because I know you, Harry,” Malfoy said, and Harry certainly picked up on the use of his first name again. “Maybe not as well as I once did, but you always worked best when you trusted your gut. So that’s how I think you got this position so young. You did what was right, you followed your intuition, and the results spoke for themselves. You can’t have changed that much, or you would have read every inch of my resumé before I arrived today.”

Harry nodded, unable to argue with Malfoy’s shrewd observations. He just wished that he knew what exactly Malfoy wanted from him now. Bravery was only useful so long as one had an inkling of when they needed to use it. 

“Goodbye, Harry. I might see you round.” Malfoy gave him what seemed like an almost sad smile as he turned around, and finally Harry clicked.

He reached out towards Malfoy, and grabbed his hand. “Wait,” he said again, only with more urgency this time. He pulled Malfoy back towards him, until there were only centimetres separating them.

“Yes, Harry?”

Harry steeled himself for a moment, before gathering his courage and finally asking the question that he so desperately wanted to know the answer to. “Did you mean it? Do you really think I’m attractive?”

Malfoy smiled gently and drew in a shaky breath. “Yes,” he said carefully, “I do. The question is, do you think the same about me, Harry?”

For a moment, Harry felt like he’d forgotten how to speak. He swallowed nervously, feeling a blush rise up his body. Finally, he managed to concentrate enough to ground out a simple, “I do, yes.”

Malfoy beamed, every one of his features lighting up, and Harry thought he’d never seen anyone look more gorgeous. “Good,” Malfoy replied, his face flushing slightly. “That’s good.”

They stood there silent and immobile for a few moments, and Harry began to wonder what he was supposed to do now. He had no idea what the protocol was when admitting that you found your old high school enemy attractive, but he figured it probably wasn’t just standing about and looking awkward.

Malfoy snorted softly, but it wasn’t anything like the cruel way in which Harry remembered him doing so at school. It was terribly close to sounding fond. 

“What?” Harry asked.

“Are we just going to stand here then?” Malfoy answered. “Or will I be able to kiss you sometime this century?”

It was Harry’s turn to snort now, but he didn’t want to waste any more time. He brought his hands up to cup Malfoy’s face, and after what felt like an eternity, he finally brought their lips together.

Their kiss was slow and gentle as they began to ease into this new, unfamiliar territory between them. Harry felt Malfoy’s hand gently rubbing at his back, and he relaxed into the surprisingly tender touch. 

All too soon they broke apart, but Harry didn’t step back. They were both breathing heavily, but Harry was relieved to see that Malfoy wasn’t looking like their kiss had disgusted him. Quite to contrary, he was looking rather pleased with himself, and Harry couldn’t stifle a small chuckle.

“What?” Malfoy asked, an air of defensiveness creeping into his voice. “What’s funny?”

Harry shook his head, and ran his hands gently up and down Malfoy’s arms, in what he hoped was a consoling gesture. “Nothing, not like what you’re thinking. You just looked so smug, and I don’t know... it was kind of adorable.”

Malfoy raised an eyebrow at him. “Adorable? Really? Never thought you’d use that word to describe me.”

“Neither did I,” Harry said honestly, “but it’s true. Then again, you’ve always been good at making me see things differently, Malfoy.”

“Draco,” he answered quickly, “please, call me Draco.”

Harry grinned. “Okay, Draco. What would you say to more kissing then? Only, as nice as this chat is, I have to admit that I was enjoying myself more before.”

“That’s a great line, Harry,” Draco said, his mouth hovering only millimetres from Harry’s now. “I bet you use that on all the boys.”

“Never had much chance,” Harry admitted, “but if you’ll let me, I’ve got plenty more terrible lines that I wouldn’t mind using on you.”

Draco didn’t bother replying to that, and instead he brought their mouths together once again. Their first kiss may have been slow and gentle, but this time neither of them were holding back. Harry moaned audibly as Draco plunged his tongue urgently into Harry’s willing mouth, their bodies pressed almost impossibly tightly together.

Harry spun them around until the backs of Draco’s legs hit Harry’s desk. Taking the hint, he lifted himself slightly until he was sitting on the desk itself, and leant back enough to allow Harry to stand between his legs. 

The friction that position created was truly glorious in Harry’s opinion. He felt a slight terror that he might enjoy it too much, and then this would all be over far too soon. He vaguely wondered what Draco might want from him after today, but decided he didn’t want to stop doing exactly what he was doing right now.

“Fuck, Harry, I’m going to come if you keep that up,” Draco groaned.

Harry pulled back slightly. “Is that a problem?”

“Not really, it’s just... it’s so messy doing that, isn’t it?”

Harry grinned, because of course Draco would be worried about getting his clothes dirty in a moment like this. 

“And what a terrible problem that would be. Imagine if we were wizards and could just spell our clothes clean later. Oh wait...”

That made Draco roll his eyes again, and Harry was starting to realise that he actually rather liked it. “Of course we could, but it’s easier to just not get them dirty in the first place, isn’t it? And besides, I wouldn’t mind actually seeing... you know.” He motioned towards Harry’s crotch as he trailed off.

“Hmm, you do have a good point there,” Harry conceded. “Come on then, get your kit off. I think I could quite enjoy having a look at all of you.” He followed this with what he hoped was a sexy wink, and from Draco’s reaction he could tell that he hadn’t succeeded, but that Draco didn’t really mind.

Harry stared almost transfixed as Draco started to undress himself. He hadn’t been able to look at him this openly before now, and now that he had been given the opportunity to just watch him, he wasn’t going to waste it. Draco was undeniably one of the most handsome men that Harry had ever seen, and Harry felt his body responding. 

“Like what you see, Harry?”

Harry just groaned in response, palming himself through his trousers. Malfoy was fully naked now, and was inexplicably bending over to fold all his clothes by hand, giving Harry a wonderful view of his arse. Harry had to take several deep breaths to stop himself from spilling his load right then.

“Well, Harry, are you just going to stand there all day or are you going to come over here and help us both have a good time?”

Harry’s brain finally started firing up again, and he began stripping himself of his clothes, cursing the ridiculous Auror robes for being so fiddly. When at last he’d ridded himself of everything he’d been wearing, he stood facing Draco, hoping that he wouldn’t find fault with Harry’s appearance.

His concern had been for nothing if Draco’s answering groan was anything to go by. Harry was thrilled to see that Draco was just as hard as he himself was, and that he appeared to be equally effected by this whole experience. 

“Wow, Harry,” Draco sighed. “Fuck, you’re stunning.”

“Yeah?” Harry asked, a little hesitantly.

Draco snorted. “Please, as if you don’t know. Bloody hell, just look at you. Could I- I mean, would you like...” he trailed off, his face flushing red as he bit his lip nervously.

“What?” Harry asked, intrigued. “What is it?”

“Would you want me to suck you?” Draco blurted out. “I mean, I don’t know if you’d like that obviously, I mean I just thought...”

Harry grinned. “Who doesn’t like that, Draco? Fuck, yes please.”

A look of relief swept across Draco’s face, before he grinned right back at Harry and closed the distance between them. 

“I should warn you, Harry, that I’m very, very good at this. Just be prepared.”

“I think I’ll manage,” Harry replied croakily.

Draco gave Harry one last, salacious grin, and then sank down to his knees in front of him. It was by far the most erotic image that Harry had seen in his life; Draco Malfoy on his knees, his mouth hovering an inch from Harry’s incredibly hard cock.

After what felt like an age, but in reality was likely only a few seconds, Draco leant forward and took Harry’s length into his mouth. 

Draco hadn’t been lying - he really was ridiculously good at this. Harry only had a moment in which to feel a token of jealousy toward the other men that Draco had done this to, until he stopped caring about much at all other than his own pleasure.

It was truly glorious feeling Draco licking and sucking so enthusiastically around him. Harry threaded his fingers gently into Draco’s hair, loving the feel of Draco’s head bobbing backwards and forth as he sucked him.

Draco brought his hands up to cup Harry’s bum, gently kneading his cheeks. When he pushed Harry forward slightly, taking him in even deeper still, Harry let out a long, low groan. Draco was holding nothing back, encouraging Harry to keep thrusting and hitting the back of his throat. 

Harry knew that he couldn’t last long and he slowed down to tell Draco as much. Draco grinned, releasing Harry’s cock with a small popping sound. 

“So? Wouldn’t you love to come down my throat, Harry?”

Harry didn’t need another invitation. As Draco recommenced his frenzied action, Harry let himself just enjoy the feeling, allowing his orgasm to build.

“I’m not going to last a minute,” Harry warned. That didn’t seem to matter to Draco, who just shrugged and continued what he was doing.

Finally, Harry came with a shout. Much to his horror though, he realised that he wasn’t the only one shrieking inside his office.

A very red-faced Hermione was standing shell shocked in the door, a pile of papers having scattered to the floor at her feet. Draco pulled back from Harry in alarm, causing the remainder of Harry’s release to splash across his face.

Harry hurriedly summoned his wand and conjured something to cover both himself and Draco, who was now sitting on the floor attempting to protect his modesty. Harry finally turned to face Hermione, who was looking more furious by the second.

“Hermione, listen, let me explain-”

“I can’t believe you, Harry,” she cut in. “What the hell are you thinking? Is this what you’ve been doing with the candidates? The test to see if you could get along - did you mean you got them to do - to do that to you?”

“You did this with the others?” Draco asked, a clear picture of hurt in his eyes as he looked up at Harry.

“No,” Harry answered swiftly, summoning his office chair to sit in and gesturing for Draco to sit in the seat he had been in earlier. “Of course not! How could you - either of you - think I’d do that?”

“Well you need to give me a damn good reason not to suspend you right here, right now, Harry,” Hermione hissed. “What the hell are you playing at?! And for goodness sake, Malfoy, cast a cleaning charm on yourself, won’t you?”

Draco turned bright red at her words, clearly having been too distracted by her arrival to do anything about cleaning up his face before now. He quickly summoned his wand, casting a cleaning charm on himself, and transfiguring the crude sheet Harry had conjured for him into something a little more flattering.

“It’s not what you think, Hermione,” Harry began, desperately hoping that she’d hear him out. “We’d finished the interview before any of this happened.”

“How does that help?! Harry, do you have any idea how seriously inappropriate this is? This could end your career, you know. Human Resources don’t look fondly upon any kind of fraternisation in the workplace, and with this kind of power imbalance? I don’t like your odds.”

Harry sighed, knowing that Hermione was right. He’d been an idiot to do this, but he’d gotten carried away in the moment and let his urges override his common sense.

“You’re right,” he conceded, slumping further in his chair. “I’ve been stupid. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“That much is obvious,” Hermione huffed. “This looks bad, Harry. You could easily be accused of using your position to obtain... favours.”

A heavy silence settled between them, as Hermione continued to look at him with disappointment, and Harry realised the seriousness of what he’d just done.

“Can I say something, please, Minister?” 

Harry jumped, almost having forgotten that Draco was still there following their every word.

“Of course” Hermione answered primly.

“If you’re worried that he somehow coerced me into this, then you shouldn’t be. I’m not going to be complaining about it. We’d already discussed that I wouldn’t be getting the role before... well, before what you unfortunately witnessed occurred. So, perhaps we could just forget that it ever happened?”

“Is that what you want?” Harry asked quietly.

Draco shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. You didn’t know what you were thinking. And I should be going anyway.”

He hastily grabbed his clothes and charmed them to slip themselves onto his body without having to strip off again. With that done, he then made to leave, but stopped when he was at the door, turning to face Harry again.

“I had a good time, Harry. I hope you enjoy working with whoever it is that you end up hiring.”

“You don’t have to go,” Harry tried to say, but Draco just shook his head.

“Goodbye, Harry. And my apologies, Minister, for what you saw. I assure you that I usually conduct myself much more professionally.”

Hermione looked a little taken aback by the quick apology, but attempted a comforting smile in his direction. Harry was still feeling a little shellshocked by how quickly everything had just happened, and he couldn’t help but feel disappointed that Draco had just run out of there as fast as he had.

“What is it, Harry?” Hermione asked. “You’re looking a little... sad?”

Harry shook his head. “It’s nothing,” he lied, “I’m fine. I’m guessing you’re going to have more to say to me though?”

She shut the door that Draco had left open behind him and, after casting a quick cleaning charm on it, sat down in the seat that he had vacated.

“Honestly, Harry, there’s a lot that will need to be said. You know that at the end of the day, I am still your boss, and what I just saw... Harry, that was completely unacceptable. Of course I’m glad that Malfoy was so, shall we say, enthusiastic about the whole thing, but still, you just can’t do that with an interviewee in your office.”

“I know,” Harry muttered, holding his head in his hands.

“And yet, somehow, I don’t think that’s what you’re really worried about right now. And if it’s not my reaction that’s bothering you, then I’m left to guess that it’s Malfoy’s.”

Not for the first time in his life, Harry found himself feeling both impressed with, and cursed by, Hermione’s astute observation skills.

“You didn’t want him to leave, did you? So I have to ask Harry - do you like him?”

Harry laughed loudly, not stopping to care that he might be coming across slightly manically. 

“I barely know him! I hadn’t seen him for a decade or so until today! I just thought... I don’t know what I thought, but it didn’t involve running out the door at the first opportunity.”

Hermione shook her head and sighed audibly. “Harry, you know I think you’re an excellent Auror, but you are honestly terrible at reading people when it comes to your personal life. You’re just being plain thick if you think that he ran out of this room to get away from you.”

“How do you figure that?” Harry asked.

“Because,” Hermione said slowly, “he was clearly embarrassed about being caught by me, yet he stayed around long enough to stand up and defend you. When he thought you had been doing something like that with everyone you interviewed he looked like a kicked crup. And most importantly, he spent the whole time looking at you like you were some fairground prize!”

Harry took a minute to process what she was saying. “You mean... you think he might want to see me again?”

This time it was Hermione who burst out laughing. “Yes,” she said emphatically, “yes I do, Harry. So go on, chase him down and tell him whatever it is that you need to tell him.”

“And how do I know what that is?”

“I don’t know, Harry, trust your gut. Isn’t that what you’re so famed for doing?”

***

Finding Draco was easier said than done. He had been long gone from the Ministry by the time Harry had tried to follow him, and he’d now spent over an hour trying to track him down.

He’d spent about half that time having to convince an unimpressed Narcissa Malfoy that Draco was not in fact in any trouble with the Aurors, but that Harry would like to speak to him all the same and to please let him know that if she saw him. She still seemed suspicious when Harry left, but he had at least established that Draco was not actually staying with his mother.

It was with a crushing sense of failure that Harry decided to just go home. He couldn’t just burst into every house in wizarding Britain to see if Draco Malfoy was there, and if he did, it would likely just make people suspicious of Draco. He was sure that he could get a tracking spell cast on Draco’s wand, but he felt that that was really crossing a line, and that was before he even got into the illegalities of it.

Instead, he would make do with a glass of firewhiskey and listening to a ridiculous programme on the wireless to take his mind off things. He could hope that he might bump into Draco somewhere; now that he would be based in Britain again it was possible that they would come across each other. The wizarding population in the country wasn’t so large after all.

He had almost finished his firewhiskey when he heard the faint knock on the door. At first, he wasn’t sure if he was just hearing things, but then it came again more insistently, and Harry leapt up.

When he flung the door open, it was to see a very nervous looking Draco peering carefully at him and biting at his bottom lip.

“Hi,” Harry said, trying to hide the shock from his voice. 

“Hi, Harry,” Draco said. “The Minister said I could find you here. May I come in?”

“Yeah, of course,” Harry answered, stepping back to allow Draco to enter. “Wait, Hermione told you to find me here? How did she find you?”

Draco laughed and made himself comfortable on one of the armchairs in the small living room of Harry’s flat, while Harry sat on the sofa across from him. “She didn’t have to work hard to find me, you know. I was looking like a fool standing outside your office waiting for you to come back. Fortunately she came past and directed me here. She said you probably wouldn’t mind.”

“She’s always been clever,” Harry said, not bothering to hold back his grin.

Draco nodded. “I’m sorry for running off before.”

Harry waved away his apology. “It’s okay, you don’t need to apologise. I don’t blame you given the circumstances. If she weren’t my boss I’d have probably taken off from there as fast as I could too, to be honest.”

“She is a little intimidating.”

That made Harry laugh. “You never seemed to find that an issue at school, did you?”

Draco scoffed defensively in reply. “Well she wasn’t the Minister for Magic back then, was she?”

“No, I guess not.”

They sat quietly for a moment, before Harry finally got the courage to ask what he’d wanted to ask from the moment that he’d seen Draco on his doorstep. “So why did you come over?”

Draco threw him a careful glance, before answering. “I think you know. But I have to ask - what happened in your office - did you, I mean, do you wish that it hadn’t happened?”

His expression caused Harry to feel a tug in his gut that had nothing to do with his attraction to Draco, and was born entirely out of guilt for having caused the anxiety that was now written clearly on the man’s face.

“No,” Harry answered truthfully, “I’m glad it happened. I mean, I had a great time.”

“Well, if you didn’t, I really had been overestimating my skills.”

Harry shook his head, but couldn’t hold back a smile. “Oh, you definitely hadn’t been overestimating your skills. It was... I mean, you were brilliant. Really brilliant. Honestly, it was so bloody good, Draco.”

Draco smiled, and Harry was relieved to see that a lot of the tension seemed to be leaving him as they spoke. 

“You know there was one thing that did disappoint me,” Harry said.

“And what would that be?”

“I didn’t get to return the favour,” Harry replied, a smirk spreading across his face. 

Draco flushed immediately red, and choked slightly on his own saliva. “Oh,” he said, when he’d regained the ability to speak, “I, um, wasn’t sure if you’d want to. Or do anything else really.”

“I want to,” Harry assured him quickly, realising that he was answering both the question that Draco was asking now, and the one that had been playing around in his own head for the last hour. “I mean, not just that. I mean, definitely that, but also more? Um, yeah.”

“Eloquent, Harry,” Draco said, his cheery grin belying his mocking tone. 

“Well, what do you want then?” Harry asked defensively.

Draco blinked at him rapidly for several seconds before answering, “I don’t know.”

“Oh. Right,” Harry said.

“Don’t look like that, Harry. Of course I’d love to straddle you on that ridiculous sofa and get straight to fucking, but I just don’t know if I can do the whole casual thing. Not with you. I can feel the heartbreak coming from a mile away.”

It was Harry who was blushing furiously now, which was plainly ridiculous when he’d had his cock down the throat of the man in front of him only earlier that afternoon. 

“Wh-what did you say?” Harry choked out.

“You heard, Harry. It’s no bloody secret that I’m attracted to you, I mean, if you couldn’t figure that out from what happened earlier then I retract my comments about you not being an idiot. But I think with everything I know about you that if we tried to do casual... I’d probably just end up getting hurt. And I’m sorry, I don’t want to do that.”

Harry found himself nodding although he wasn’t sure why. It sounded to him like Draco was rejecting him on an offer that he wasn’t aware that he’d made. 

“Why would it have to be casual?” Harry asked eventually, “do you not like dating or something?”

Draco stared at him for a minute, his mouth opening and closing as though he were struggling with what to say next. Harry was starting to get concerned that he’d said something wrong when at last he noticed a smile starting to form at the edges of his mouth.

“Harry, are you asking me out?”

Harry’s eyes widened in shock, but within a moment he realised that he sort of had just asked him out, and thought it would look foolish to back out now.

“Um, yeah, I guess I am,” Harry said. “Well, we haven’t seen each other in a long time, and I don’t know, I thought it’d be nice to get to know you a bit better now, yeah? You’ve obviously been up to some interesting stuff. And we’ve established that we’re attracted to each other, so is dating that bad an idea?”

The answering snort was a little much in Harry’s opinion, but it was softened somewhat when Draco stood up and walked over to him, placing his knees either side of Harry’s thighs and kissing him clean on the mouth.

“Is that a yes then?” Harry said, when they resurfaced for air.

“Fuck, of course it’s a yes,” Draco replied exasperatedly. “Or I suppose a ‘no’ really given that what you asked me was ‘is dating that bad an idea?’”

Harry laughed, and successfully distracted Draco with another kiss that left them both hard and gasping in no time. Harry let his hands wander down and grab hold of Draco’s arse, taking great delight in gripping the firm cheeks as Draco ground his hips up and down on top of Harry’s cock, which was straining inside his trousers. 

“You know,” Draco panted, detaching his mouth from Harry’s, “I do realise that you are attempting to avoid having me talk more about your awful pick up line?”

“Am I?”

“Yes, you are. Just so you’re aware that I know.”

“Well, I’m aware. Does this mean we can get back to doing what we were doing? I was enjoying that.”

Draco kissed his forehead, before leaning slightly to the side and whispering into Harry’s ear, “but wouldn’t you rather take this to your bedroom where I could bend over whatever bed you have in there while you fuck me? Or the other way around, if you prefer.”

The moment was ruined slightly by Harry’s overly excited reaction, as he misjudged how close Draco’s head was to his own, turning his enthusiastic nod of agreement into more of a head butt, leaving Draco to pull back from him with a sharp cry of pain.

“Oh shit! I’m so sorry, Draco! Are you okay?” Harry asked, sincerely hoping that he hadn’t just ruined his chance of doing any of what Draco had offered. 

“Yes, you fool, I’m fine, it just bloody stings a bit.”

“I am really sorry,” Harry said imploringly, “I didn’t mean to! You just... got me a bit excited.”

“Don’t blame me for this!”

“I’m not, I’m not, I know it was me,” Harry said. “Um, so does this mean... well, I guess I understand if you just want to go now.” Harry watched Draco closely, hoping that his own stupidity hadn’t just lost him a shot with Draco.

“I don’t want to go,” Draco muttered, and Harry sighed with relief. “But I should let you know that I’m really not into pain with sex. In case you were hoping that this was some kind of turn on for me. It’s really, really not.”

Harry laughed. “No complaints here! It’s, um, not really something I’m into either. So I guess that’s good?”

“Well, that sure is one way to start a conversation about our kinks I guess,” Draco said. 

“So, bedroom then?” Harry asked. 

“Hmm, maybe you’ll have to convince me first,” Draco replied cheekily. “What do you want to do when we get there? Have a lie down? Brush each other’s hair?”

“I was thinking more along the lines of that thing you mentioned where you bend over my bed while I fuck you? But only after I’ve had the chance to suck you off first, of course. I’m not forgetting that we definitely had unfinished business when we were interrupted before.”

“Now that,” Draco said, reaching out and running his hand over the outline of Harry’s cock through his trousers, “sounds like an excellent idea. So, which way to the bedroom?”

***

“Ready to go, Harry?”

Harry looked up from the arrest report he was reading to see Draco standing next to his desk, his arms folded over his new robes and a small frown on his face.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” Harry said, deciding that the report could wait until morning. “Come on, I need to hear all about your first day.”

Three months had passed since Draco’s interview-turned-rendezvous in Harry’s office, and it felt to Harry as though it had all passed by in a blur. Harry had completed a one month suspension and a professional standards course over what had transpired that day, on Hermione’s insistence that as Minister, she simply had to report something of that nature to Human Resources.

To his eternal gratitude, Hermione had managed to ensure that no word as to why he’d been suspended ever reached the press. Harry hoped that people assumed he’d had to go rogue to bring down some dangerous criminal and save countless lives, rather than that he had used an interview as a chance to get laid.

“It was fine,” Draco replied shortly, “but come on, I’m getting hungry and I want to get out of here now to avoid the gawping masses.”

From experience, Harry knew better than to pick an argument with Draco when he was hungry. In fact, these days whenever Draco started calling him insults or referring to him as ‘Potter’, Harry would immediately summon the nearest sweet treat and wait for Draco to return to his usual self, which at least softened the insults. 

“Let’s go,” Harry said, standing up and summoning his coat. “You know I haven’t got anything planned for dinner, so if you’re wanting to eat quickly then we better buy something on the way.”

Draco shook his head. “I don’t want to stop and let that mob get pictures of us together, bloody hell, Harry. We can talk about it when we get to your place.”

Harry nodded, quickly casting his usual privacy charms on the documents in his office to ensure they were secured before he left. He held his hand out to Draco, who took it after a brief moment of hesitation.

“You really don’t care what they think?” Draco asked.

“No,” Harry said, “they’ve already written what they want to write about us. Come on, Draco, they’ve known about us for weeks now, surely that means we can hold hands without any drama?”

Draco squeezed his hand gently in response. “You know they think I only got this job because you forced your friend to hire me. Plus I’m sick of seeing endless headlines about how I’ve somehow cursed you into being with me.”

Harry took a moment to look at his boyfriend, the anxiety clearly showing on his face. “Look, Draco, I know it’s hard. But I promise that they will get bored of all this eventually. And any idiot knows that Hermione would only hire someone that she thought was right for the job.”

“Thanks, Harry,” Draco murmured, pressing a quick kiss to Harry’s forehead. “I know I shouldn’t let it get to me, but I’m not as good at brushing it off as you are.”

“I’ve had plenty of practice with the papers writing rubbish about me,” Harry said with a shrug. “You’ve had a decade of travelling where no one knew you, so it was bound to be a shock.”

“I guess.”

“Now, come on, we both need food. Plus I’m dying to hear what it was like working for Hermione. Tell me, is she really as tough on her secretary as Dean always implied?”

Draco laughed. “She’s the Minister, Harry. Of course she expects a lot of her staff! I think today went well though.”

“Well that’s good to hear. Dean came in about five times asking to know how you were getting on.”

“What did you tell him?”

“To go away and get back to Human Resources. And that he should stop being so nosy.”

“And what did he say to that?”

“That perhaps it was part of his role in Human Resources to make sure that we weren’t shagging in the office again.”

Draco gawped at him. “One time that happened!”

“One?” Harry asked with a small grin.

“Well, one that they know about,” Draco muttered in reply, making Harry laugh loudly. 

“And you know you still owe Aoife for covering for us last week,” Draco reminded him. “That was definitely outside of the secretary job description. You shouldn’t have screamed so loud.”

“Ah yeah, you’re right. I just don’t know what kind of a gift says ‘thank you for turning up the wireless and then lying to the Minister because I was too stupid to cast a silencing charm while my boyfriend fucked me in my office!’ And there aren’t many people I can ask for advice on the issue...”

Draco smiled, and Harry looked at him questioningly. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” Draco replied softly. “It’s just nice hearing you call me your boyfriend.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Well, you are my boyfriend, so what else would I call you? If you’re back to worrying about that stupid article that implied I was paying you for some kind of services...

“No!” Draco answered quickly. “I wasn’t thinking about that!”

“Well that’s a relief. Not that I minded the bit of role play that followed to be honest... although when do I ever mind the chance to bend you over the kitchen table and have my way with you? Now come on, a few minutes ago you were desperate for food, or so I recall.”

“I am. I’ll be so grumpy soon that you’ll have to summon something from Honeydukes.”

Harry felt his face flame red. “How did you...” he trailed off without finishing the question.

“Know?” Draco supplied helpfully. “Because you’re about as subtle as a Hippogriff in a tea room, Harry. But don’t stop, because I do love knowing that all I need to do is call you ‘Potter’ and it earns me a free chocolate bar.”

“You’re so sneaky! I can’t believe you’ve known all this time and you were just using me to get free sweets!”

“You’re really surprised? Come on, this is me we’re talking about.”

“It’s lucky that I love you,” Harry said in exasperation, before suddenly realising what he’d just admitted.

Draco’s shock was only clear for a moment before he shook his head and smiled, answering simply, “I love you too.”


End file.
